[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7730]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                     sergeant christopher t. heflin

  Mr. McConnell. Mr. President, I rise today because there is a family 
in Kentucky that has lost their beloved son in this time of war. SGT 
Christopher T. Heflin of Paducah, KY, was killed on November 16, 2004, 
during combat operations in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. He was 26 
years old.
  For his valor in service as a U.S. marine, Sergeant Heflin earned 
several medals, awards and decorations, including the Navy and Marine 
Corps Commendation Medal, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, 
the National Defense Service Medal, two Meritorious Masts and the 
Purple Heart.
  Sergeant Heflin's mother, Meleasa Ellis, still remembers well the day 
Chris told her he intended to enlist in the Marine Corps. ``When he was 
a senior [in high school], he came home [and] said, `Mom, I need to 
talk to you,' '' she says. `` `I want to join the Marines,' he said. I 
said why? His response: `I want to serve my country.' ''
  Before the Marines, there was football, Chris's first love as a 
child. He started playing in sixth grade and by high school had become 
the starting center on the team, wearing the No. 50 jersey.
  ``He was a young man who led by example . . . . He played center and 
was always one of the hardest-working players I had,'' says Jeff Sturm, 
Chris's head football coach at Reidland High School in Paducah. ``He 
was just a quality young man. I just hate to see it happen, but I'm 
proud that he was over there defending his country. That's the way he 
led his life.''
  Growing up, Chris also was a member of the National Hockey League 
Association of Ohio and of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Paducah. He had 
an afterschool job at Taco John's. He enjoyed riding his four-wheeler, 
which he called his ``country Cadillac,'' and he had recently taken up 
deer hunting.
  The vigorous life suited Chris, who was always on the go. ``If he sat 
still, it was just because he had to eat,'' remembers his brother Cory 
Heflin. ``If I had any problems, I could come to him. He was always 
there if I needed someone to talk to. We always stuck together. Now 
he's going to a better home.''
  Cory and other family members also remember how active Chris was in 
volunteer work. His favorite program was the Marine Corps Reserves' 
Toys for Tots, which collects toys for needy children at Christmas. 
Chris made sure to do his part every year.
  ``He missed a lot of Thanksgivings with us to make sure the kids had 
Christmas,'' his mother Meleasa recalls. ``During Thanksgiving, he was 
helping wherever he was with Toys for Tots; he had a passion for kids. 
He would have been a great dad someday.''
  Chris graduated from Reidland High School in 1997 and signed up with 
the Marine Corps 5 days afterwards. He would go on to serve with them 
for nearly 8 years. By the time he deployed to Iraq, Chris was assigned 
to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st 
Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, CA.
  One of his first assignments put him behind a desk. Chris 
communicated his displeasure to his friend, the Reverend Larry 
Davidson, the man who had baptized Chris when he was a young teenager. 
``He said that was not what he wanted to be here for,'' the Reverend 
Davidson says. ``He wanted to be on the battlefield.''
  Chris would move on to spend 3 years training reservists in weapons 
and equipment use in Moundsville, WV. While there, he worked with John 
Nanny, commandant of the Wheeling, WV, Marine Corps League.
  Chris ``was a Marine's Marine,'' John says. ``He was always gung-ho 
and fired up about what he did.''
  In June 2004, Chris was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom. His mother Meleasa remembers the day Chris gave her the 
news, in April 2004.
  Meleasa says Chris ``told me he was leaving for Iraq. I could do 
nothing but weep,'' Meleasa says. ``He told me, remember the reason I 
joined the Marines? I have to go and fight for our country. He fought 
till the last day, November 16, 2004.''
  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Heflin family after the tragic 
loss of this brave Marine. We are thinking of Chris's mother Meleasa 
Ellis; his brothers, Cory Heflin, Josh Hicks, and Derek Ellis; his 
grandparents, Marvin and Marie Salsbury; his aunts and uncles, Lisa and 
Pete Witenberger and Tim and Diane Salsbury; and many other beloved 
family members and friends.
  More than 200 people turned out for Chris's funeral at the Mount Zion 
Baptist Church, officiated by Chris's friend, the Reverend Davidson. 
Later, at the Woodlawn Memorial Gardens cemetery, Chris was laid to 
rest with a 21-gun salute.
  Two marines folded the flag that had draped over his casket and 
presented it to his brother Derek, who is also serving in the Marine 
Corps as a lance corporal.
  When Chris was a small child, his grandfather, Marvin, would take him 
fishing. Chris had so much fun that when the visits were over, he would 
tell his mother to go get his clothes and bring them back to his 
grandparents' house so he could stay with them.
  Marvin still remembers the last time he spoke to his grandson, just 
before Chris deployed to Iraq. ``Son, I want to ask you something,'' 
Marvin said. ``Are you right with the Lord?''
  ``Yes, Pa, I am,'' Chris replied, using the nickname for his 
grandfather he had used since childhood.
  The loss that the Heflin family has suffered can never be fully 
healed. But it is my hope that every person who hears Chris's story is 
inspired by and draws strength from it.
  The little boy Marvin once took fishing grew up to become a man, a 
patriot and a marine who stepped forward to serve his country. This 
Senate salutes SGT Christopher T. Heflin's service, and we will forever 
honor his sacrifice. Our Nation is richer today for what he did on 
behalf of freedom's cause.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington State.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to use leader 
time for our side.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered

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